Clementi family aids Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster

LEOMINSTER -- The Clementi Family Trust made an undisclosed but significant contribution to the Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster on Monday.

The contribution is being distributed through a sponsorship for the club's Great Futures 5K Run/Walk, which directly benefits the club.

Anna Clementi and her brother, John Clementi, visited the club to give the donation to board member Tim Norton, who is organizing the run, and Executive Director Donata Martin. The value was not disclosed but it is five figures, John Clementi conceded.

The family loves the club, the Clementi siblings said.

"This is a place children can grow, develop, be creative and be safe," Anna Clementi said.

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/STEVE SHERIDAN
John and Anna Clementi visited the Leominster Boys & Girls Club on Monday afternoon to make a donation and interact with some of the children there. The Clementi Family Charitable Trust made the donation to the club for an undisclosed amount.

The club reminds John Clementi of the recreation center in downtown Leominster when he was growing up in the 1960s.

"I thought is was a really important thing for me to have a place to go to meet up with other kids," he said.

The Boys & Girls Club does good work but is under-funded, so the family wanted to help, John Clementi said.

"I thought is was a just a very worthy cause in my mind," he said.

The former YMCA in Leominster and the recreation center had after-school activities, but they paled in comparison to the Boys & Girls Club, he said. There are more than 480 children registered with the club and 225-230 attend daily, Martin said.

Many of them would go home to empty homes if not for the club, which offers after-school programming, John Clementi said.

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Anna Clementi said she likes the diversity of ages among the students.

"It's great to see all these age groups under one roof because they can learn from one another," she said. "The older kids can be mentors."

The fourth annual run and walk is scheduled to start and finish at the club on Lindell Avenue, Sunday, May 19, at 10 a.m. About 100 people registered last year and organizers are hoping for 150 this year, said Tim Norton, a club board member.

"The theme behind the race is getting kids and families out together in a way that is active and fun," he said.

There are four divisions in the run/walk including 18-plus, high school, middle school and elementary divisions. The male and female winners in the 18-plus years old division will get $300 each, while the second place finishers will receive $200, and the third place finishers will receive $100, Norton said.

"The Masters has the iconic green jacket and the Boys & Girls Club has the iconic blue hoodie," he said.

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